These types of method are known and are implemented for example in the automation systems such as those offered by the applicant under the brand name “SIMATIC”. In such methods the two states mentioned above are identified as the “offline programming state” or the “online programming state”.
As a result of such a functionality during the commissioning of industrial systems the respective control programs are loaded for the automation of a plant (automation solution) into automation devices, such as programmable logic controllers (PLC) for example, process computers or such like and executed. The automation system is created in such cases with the aid of so-called engineering systems. For this purpose an engineering system usually provides one or more programming tools for respective programming methods or programming languages supported—such as statement lists, ladder logic, function block diagrams, structured text (ST), continuous function charts (CFC), sequential function charts (SFC), etc. With continuous industrial or power engineering processes in particular a precise control of the loaded control programs (online program state) and of the modified, not yet (completely) loaded program (offline program state) by the commissioning engineer is needed, since for these applications especially only modified load objects are selectively reloaded and not the entire control program.
One problem, used as its starting point by the present invention, now consists of offering such programming tools for such automation systems, i.e. offering methods for its operation which provide the best possible support for the commissioning engineer during testing and loading modifications of the control program, especially for a plant which is in operation. The particular requirement lies here in the administration of modifications of the control program, so that load states of individual load objects are rendered transparent to the commissioning engineer in the sense of an illustration, especially a visual illustration, and program modifications can be reloaded in a controlled manner into the automation device, i.e. the programmable logic controller or the process computer for example, and tested.
Also known in the area of automation technology are programming tools which include functionality that makes it possible to modify and subsequently load the offline control program and as well as to test the online control program. Often symbolic or graphical reverse translation information is not available or is no longer (completely) available for online testing, in order to represent the control program in accordance with the original input of the user. A number of programming tools therefore allow a test (debugging) of a control program only if offline and online program state match, i.e. the modifications have already been loaded, i.e. are integrated into the control program. The lack of an overview of the differences between online and offline program state is accordingly felt to be not yet entirely satisfactory in the known implementation. Online and offline program state are synchronously reconciled there and must be put into an identical state by reloading the changes before a test is sensibly possible. Load states relating to individual load objects, i.e. especially programming elements, are not available to the user.
In the case of automation processes in the field of power stations in particular an engineering system offered by the applicant for programming with a Continuous Function Chart (CFC) already provides for administration of load states for the so-called modules used there (an example for load objects). The load states, i.e., whether a module has already been loaded into the CFC plan or not, are visualized to the user by a corresponding color coding. However such visualization is restricted for deleted modules and deleted interconnections, i.e. signal connections. Deleted modules are still indicated inadequately graphically, in which case the option of debugging is also lost. To this extent even this solution known in the prior art is felt to be capable of improvement and worthy of improvement.
For the further prior art the reader is also referred in this context to EP 1 379 942 also attributable to the applicant, in which a programming device with a software tool is described which comprises means for detecting software modules in the programming device, means for detecting software modules in an automation device connected to communicate with it and means for comparing the modules in the programming and automation device. The results of the comparison are displayed with the software tool proposed there.